Ed Hathaway

life story

A loving Dad, Pop-Pop, Teacher and Coach

Louis Edwin “Ed” Hathaway II, 75, of Enon, Ohio, passed away on Tuesday, April 13, 2021. He was the husband of Karen Sue (Cole) Hathaway, whom he met during their first years of teaching in Fairborn, Ohio. They realized they attended the same university in Kentucky and had mutual acquaintances, yet hadn’t met until after both had graduated and started their careers in Ohio. They remained in Ohio, sharing 49 years of marriage together.

Born in Shawnee Mission, Kansas, he was the son of Louis Edwin (Ed) and Martha Jane Hathaway. He attended grade school in Prairie Village and graduated from Shawnee Mission East High School in 1963. Ed attended Kansas City Kansas Junior College where he worked for the newspaper as a sports reporter. He transferred to Morehead State University in Kentucky and graduated in 1969 with a health and physical education major (HPER), and History.

Ed enlisted in the US Navy and was stationed in Vietnam for 18 months. There he began what would be a long career in education, teaching ESL to the local military trainees.

After returning to the states, Ed began teaching in Fairborn, Ohio. He met Karen (a fourth grade teacher) while looking for supplies for his special education classroom. Ed and Karen were married on July 24th, 1971. Ed completed his masters of education degree at the University of Cincinnati in 1973. He taught special education, physical education, civics and summer school for 40 years in both the Fairborn, OH and Piqua, OH districts. For most of those years he was not only a beloved teacher to his students, but also spent much time coaching cross country and track for the school. When his own children came along, he spent plenty of time coaching soccer, baseball, and softball for their teams as well. Ed became a registered track official with the Ohio High School Athletics Association in the 1990s and one of his greatest joys in life was traveling around the state to officiate track meets and invitationals.

Ed was a member of Enon Church of Christ and enjoyed serving his friends and neighbors in various capacities. He was always willing to lend a helping hand with building projects, activities, transportation or whatever was needed. Another way Ed served his community over the years was by being a blood donor. He donated several gallons and kept up this practice as long as his health allowed.

Ed’s favorite way to get to know someone was to tell a joke and get a smile. Puns were among his favorites, and no one embodied the “dad joke” more than him. He also enjoyed getting “burned” on the receiving end and enjoyed a surprise Roast from his family and friends for his 60th birthday in Kansas. Despite his teaching job and other projects, he managed to be in the stands or on the sidelines at every one of his kids’ sporting events or extra curricular activities. He was a favorite uncle and great-uncle to his many nieces and nephews, who always knew to call on Uncle Eddie for a joke, a prank, or a trip to the park to play ball.

Ed is survived by his wife, Karen Sue Hathaway, his children, Doug (Mindy) Hathaway, Julie (Greg) Edlund, Kristi (Terry) Bowsher, and eight grandchildren; Kyle, Elijah, Gianna, Judah, Molly, Jeremiah, Owen, and Daniel. He is also survived by his loving siblings, Suella (Ed) Calkins, Diane (Jim) Freitag, and many cousins, nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews. Ed was preceded in death by his parents, Ed and Martha Hathaway.

A celebration of life service will be held in his honor on Saturday, April 24, 2021 at 3:00pm at the Enon Church of Christ. Attendees are encouraged to wear a mask and socially distance to pay your respects. A recording of the service will be made available by the family to those who can’t attend.

In lieu of flowers, donations could be made to your local chapter of the American Parkinson Disease Association.

memorial service

Celebration of Ed’s life

April 24, 2021

Enon Church of Christ 7345 Dayton Springfield Rd, Enon, OH 45323, USA

Dad was honored to make the decision years ago to donate his remains to Wright State University for the medical studies programs. We will be buying a brick in his honor to be placed in a meditation garden on site at the University.

Memories from Ed’s cousins

From Judi Graham

My cousin Eddie was a year older than me. The 9 Hathaway cousins grew up together in Kansas City. Of the 9 cousins, there were 7 girls and 2 boys. Eddie was the older boy; the second male cousin was not born until the end of the “gang”. Having 2 sisters, Eddie was used to having girls around and seemed to gladly put up with our teasing, blaming every “bad” thing on him, trying to boss him around, and making all our made-up games all about us.

Eddie was ready with a joke or a prank, even as a youngster. His sense of humor and sense of fun, are the main things I remember about that time together.

Eddie was on a Little League team, as has been mentioned, and my Dad took me (and perhaps my baby sister too - I don’t remember that part) to watch all of Eddie’s games. As an adult, I am really into watching Major League Baseball and I attribute that interest to the days I enjoyed watching Eddie as the team catcher and then afterwards he patiently explained to me the finer points of the game.

My family moved to California when I was 14 and my sister was 7, so our participation in the numerous Hathaway activities ended then. But we did go back for annual family visits and the KC gang visited us in California too. And whenever we saw Eddie and his sisters, Suella and Diane, we all took up where we left off and the fun and jokes continued.

As adults, we saw each other at family reunions and luckily one of my business trips took me to Dayton, OH which allowed me to slip away and visit Karen and Eddie and family for a bit. Never enough time together as adults, but we were able to make a few visits happen.

While Eddie was in Trinity Community, I wrote him some notes and included jokes. I mailed my last letter to him on April 12th, the day before he passed away.

My next joke was ready for him:

“Why should the number 288 never be mentioned? It’s two gross.”

Cousin Eddie, you were an incredible person and it was an honor to be your cousin. I can see you up in heaven now, keeping all your friends and family members entertained with your jovial personality.

Love and hugs buddy.

Your cousin, Judi